Gooseberry Cucumber Curd Pachidi / Nellikai Vellarikai Thayir Pachidi

In every meal of the day, I love to include one curd pachidi with either cucumber, carrot or any other suitable vegetable. Though we don't get fresh Gooseberries year round here, I bought a pack of frozen gooseberries from the Indian store.  Using those gooseberries, I made this fresh curd pachidi for our Saturday lunch thali. I make this pachidi whenever I buy frozen gooseberries. Gooseberry also called as "Nellikai" in Tamil is a good source of Vitamin C, boosts immunity in our system, good for diabetes and has numerous health benefits. I also added a small cucumber along with gooseberries while making this pachidi but its totally optional. Personally I like the blended mixture of cucumber with gooseberries and coconut.

Try to make this curd pachidi often in your kitchen and enjoy. Try to add tadka to your curd pachidi always, it definitely adds more flavor and enhances the taste of the curd pachidi. 

Ingredients

Gooseberries - 5 or 6 medium size
Cucumber - 1 Small

Green chillies - 3 

Fresh Coconut flakes - 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds / Jeera - 2 tsp

Ginger - 1 small piece

Salt - As required

Fresh Thick curd - 1 cup

Coriander leaves - To Garnish

For Tadka

Oil - 1 tsp

Hing - A Dash

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 or 3

Dry red chili - 1

Preparation

Grind gooseberries, shredded cucumber, coconut flakes, green chillies, jeera, ginger along with little curd in a blender. Add required amount of salt and grind again for few seconds. Transfer the mixture into a serving bowl. Add the remaining curd to the pachidi and mix it well. If its too thick, add little water to the pachidi and adjust the consistency. Prepare the tadka in a pan with little oil and pour the tadka over the curd pachidi. Garnish with few crushes coriander leaves and include this delicious curd pachidi in your thali / meal.

Diwali 2016 / Lakshmi Pooja 2016 At Home

Diwali, festival of lights has been my favourite festival since my childhood. I would always dream of Diwali every year, would open and embrace my new diwali dress secretly, would collect the fire crackers and count them every single day, would enjoy the sweet samples that my mom made during Diwali. Those memories are priceless. Keeping that in mind, I am trying my best to make my kids diwali an enjoyable one which they should remember in their life time and relish as I do.

Diwali this year 2016 was celebrated at home only with my kids as my husband had gone to India on an official trip. So, the energy level was little down. Inspite of that, I triggered the event with music, good festive food, decor at every corner of the home, lights and dinners with extended family. Performed the Lakshmi Pooja in the evening and offered new jewelleries to goddess lakshmi and made prasadams too.

Hope to  enjoy the next  Diwali with my husband and kids together. Wishing you all a very Happy, Colourful Diwali this year...

Decor made by my kids

Decor by my kids

Diwali Goodies -- Kesar Peda, Mixed Nuts Burfi and Kara Boondi

Navarathri 2016 / Golu 2016

Navarathri Golu 2016 at my home

Navarathri 2016  started in full swing, thamboolam invites poured in, full sight of navarathri dolls at many Indian grocers here, colourful sarees taken out with matching jewelleries, all kinds of lentils, beans occupied the kitchen counters for sundals...It went on and on. Mind was so refreshed to welcome Navarathri Devi at home.

I single handedly decorated the Golu this time as the kids and my husband were too busy at their respective works.Of Course, the steps were organized and kept ready by my husband.  Trust me, it was very tiring for me to keep the dolls and decorate alone. After keeping the Golu, I sat and enjoyed my hard work with great satisfaction. Well, my dear friends, I hope you would like my Golu this year and would appreciate my work!!! Please give me your suggestions to improvise my Golu.

Navarathri Mornings started with "Sri Lalitha Sahasranamam" followed by other devi songs. One kind of Sundal was offered as Neivedhyam to our Navarathri Devi. During the 9 days, many of my friends attended the Lalitha Sahasranama Pooja in the mornings and we enjoyed a full feast of South Indian Food.

First Day Neivedhyam -- Kesari and Moong Dal Sundal

Totally, it was really good to see vibrant colours of sarees, kids in Indian dresses. I am sure you would have enjoyed Navarthri Golu at your homes too and celebrated Navarathri Devi in a grand way. Wishing to make a beautiful Golu next year too....

Happy Birthday Amma

Its been a long time since I published posts in my food blog.  Ever since I lost my wonderful mother, I got uninterested in many things that I enjoyed doing earlier. Life after amma's death is difficult at times, making me realize the importance of everyday life. No one is going to pamper us the same way as amma does. I felt as if my mom came in front asking me to start writing posts again. She was an incredible cook commented on my food recipes in her own sarcastic funny way which i loved to hear..Missing my amma so much..

When i make any kind of sweet dishes, memories of my mom occupies my mind totally. All sweet memories of her. My time with my mom is incomplete, yes, it is. I never had a proper "Good Bye" from her, was not fortunate to see her face and the kindness on her eyes at the end. I paid the price for staying far away from her.

During her birthday week, I made an elaborate south indian thali and enjoyed with family and friends.

Amma's Tribute --  All learnt from her

This post is my hearty tribute to my dear mother who really inspired me to achieve many more things in my life. Love you Amma...as always till I live in this world.

If God can give me a single wish, I would really love to see you atleast once again for few minutes, talk with you.

Happy Navarathri 2014

Golu at our home, first day - 2014

Navarathri always bring lots of cheers inside my mind and the body gets energized by unknown power suddenly. Mind constantly thinks about the various activities which we would be doing at home during these lovely nine days. I do have to install a speed braker to slow down my thoughts and events sometime. Honestly I wish to pass on all the goody moments I had during my childhood navarathri / golu at my native place Thanjavur to my kids. My kids neither took a small bag to different houses for collecting sundals or dressed up in sarees or other costumes during this occasion like us. Still, they cherish Navarathri in a different way now by listening to all P.Suseela navarathri devotional songs in the mornings ( in a little higher volume to get a south indian temple feel!!!!) , munching the sundals I make in the evenings, dressing up in indian costume when some families visit our home for thamboolam, chant slokas along with me, everything they do as I am asking them. But I trust that these feelings are so unique and they will appreciate it one day when they grow up. I still remember each and every thing my parents did during navarathri at my home and the shades of childhood always brings up brightness in my eyes and melts my heart. 

Hoping that they will keep golu, make sundals, sing songs, chant slokas, invite friends to their homes in future and appreciate their mom and dad as I do now, I will keep Navarathri Golu every year for achieving that. 

Happy Navarathri to all my dear family, friends and everyone in the world. Let us all pray to have peace throughout the world with no war zone, fights, blood sheds. 

Tiramisu / Tiramisu Dessert / An Italian Dessert - Tiramisu / Tiramisu Cake

"Tiramisu Cake" is a very popular Italian Dessert with a mild coffee flavour which stole our heart few years before. Since then, our family never fail to enjoy this dessert at the end of any Italian dinner. Due to its mild sweetness we could enjoy this Tiramisu Cake comfortably more. My kids love this cake and when I announced them that I would make them at home, their eyebrows went up and were really worried whether I would be able to duplicate the dessert perfectly or not. Well, with a list of right ingredients and at right proportions, I successfully duplicated the great "Tiramisu" at home. ( for them!!!). Of course, it has to be presented at the end of an Italian meal. So, last Friday we enjoyed a complete Italian Meal from soup to dessert comprising of Minestrone Soup, Penne Pasta with homemade Marinara Sauce sauteed with vegetables , a side of grilled vegetables seasoned with Italian herbs and Tiramisu Cake. This meal is mainly made to please our dear son on his Kindergarten Graduation Day. A change in the routine always refreshes the mind and it proved to be true. We had a terrific weekend followed by with tons of housework.!!!  My Dear bloggers, if you are calorie conscious or weight watchers, you could enjoy only a little portion of this cake sadly...

Making tiramisu is not at all a cumbersome process. With all the right ingredients in place, its an effortless job with less preparation time. You need to be patient only during the refrigeration time. Its an ideal dessert to be made well in advance during a big get together or birthdays.

Ingredients

Mascarpone Cheese - 1 Cup
Whipped Cream -2 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/4 cup ( For Dusting )
Lady Finger Biscuits - 20 to 25
Leftover Coffee or Espresso - 1 Cup ( Enough to dip to the finger biscuits )
Chocolate Powder or Chocolate shaved curls - For decorating on top ( Optional )

Method

Make the coffee / espresso ready first. In a big mixing bowl, mix the mascarpone cheese, whipping cream and sugar and whip them.

Keep the tray or rectangular pan with good depth to assemble. Soak the lady finger biscuits into the coffee espresso lightly and arrange them in order. 

 After you place one complete layer of lady finger biscuits, coat the layer with the creamy mascarpone filling on top uniformly.

 Dust the creamy layer with cocoa powder uniformly using the tea filter on all directions.

On top of it, arrange the lady finger biscuits again and repeat the process. 

Finally on top of the cocoa layer dusting, dust the chocolate powder or decorate the cake with the shaved chocolate curls. Refrigerate the Tiramisu Cake for 7 to 8 hours. Make triangular pieces or rectangular as you desire and serve the cake on a dessert plate. Just stick a dry lady finger biscuit on its top to get the restaurant style look. 

Tips / Suggestions

• I prefer to freeze the Tiramisu for half an hour before serving as it helps out while making pieces without cracking.
• For making chocolate curls, you can use a dark chocolate bar and peel at the corners using a vegetable peeler. It works well.
• Refrigerate well enough for achieving good results. 
• Don't add more sugar to this cake than mentioned. Mild sweetness gives a divine taste to Tiramisu.
• For big parties if you decide to make the dessert well in advance, its ideal to make it as individual dessert piece for any guest. If you have individual dessert rectangular serving cups or any deep serving cups, you can adopt the same method and make mini versions of the Tiramisu cake for all the guests. In this way, there are no hastles in cutting the big Tiramisu cake before serving and worrying about cracking them. Instead, you arrange the dessert cups in a serving tray and in no time your dessert will be fixed perfectly. 

Mango Salsa

Having Grown up with lots of good mango memories, I was quite interested in trying out the sweet, tangy also spicy Mango Salsa in my kitchen. Sweetness from the mangoes blends well with the spicy jalapenos and with the sourness from tomatoes and lime juice. Scoopful of this colourful salsa with a tortilla chip satisfies the tummy and its certainly not easy to resist the temptation of grabbing more and more...

Ingredients

Ripe Mango but firm diced into tiny squares - Between 1 cup to 1.5 cups depending upon its sweetness

Red Bell Pepper shredded - 1/4 cup

Yellow Bell Pepper shredded - 1/4 cup

Orange Bell Pepper shredded - 1/4 cup

Green Bell Pepper shredded - 1/4 cup

Jalapeno seeded and diced - 1/2 cup 

Coriander Leaves chopped - To Garnish 

Red Onion shredded - 1/4 cup

Lime Juice - 1 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Spice Powder - 1/2 tbsp ( Dry roast 2 tsp of jeera( cumin seeds) and make a fine powder ) I like to add this in my mango salsa as it enhances the flavour and taste.

Method

In a big mixing bowl, add all the veggies, lime juice, spice powder and salt and mix them well. Add mango pieces at the end and mix once again. Leave the salsa to stay for few hours before serving for the real taste to set. Enjoy this salsa on a sunny day with a full bag of tortilla corn chips.!!

Japanese Sushi / Sushi / Homemade Sushi

Initially I got introduced to this Japanese Sushi by my husband, he was emphasizing more about this Sushi. I did not give that much importance as I already knew his special liking towards all Asian food. In fact, I used to tease him that he would have definitely got married to a nice Chinese or Japanese girl if we were not married. !!! I did not like this Sushi a bit at first sight in Las Vegas, thought something was made out of left over rice. After tasting a Sushi roll, no change in my feelings at all. It was too cold and could not feel that taste of the inside veggies too. It was too cold and sour. Knowing that its a healthy option for me, ( as it requires zero oil ) my mind was constantly thinking how should I like this Sushi. How could I make it better to satisfy my tongue. Here comes the Magic Man, my husband. He understood what i exactly felt about the Sushi.

He made the Veggie Sushi at home with no deviations in the preparation process. His Vegetable Sushi came out extremely well and we all loved it. Seriously, I loved those Sushi Rolls. It was not too cold for me, all Sushi Rolls were made at room temperature and I could enjoy the taste of the veggies individually. With a slice of pickled ginger and a tiny bit of Wasabi on its top took us to heights. As we were exhausting the Sushi plate faster, he had to keep up his making speed. Finally, he was fortunate to enjoy 2 Sushi rolls only.!!! This recipe is totally my husband's and the process is also defined by him. Credit or criticism directly goes to him. Feel free to prepare and pass on your valuable comments to him. 

Mmmm...I could hear your questions. Why can't we make an Indian Sushi ? Yes, I am planning to slowly murder the Sushi with my hands in the next coming weeks and will blog my results. Friends who enjoy the authentic Japanese Sushi, kindly forgive me for this trial process. I cannot control my imagination wings.

Ingredients 

As Shown in the Picture.

Sushi Rice - 1.5 Cups
Rice Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Roasted Sesame Seeds - 3 tsp
Lite Soya Sauce - As Required
Wasabi Sauce - As Required
Pickled Ginger - As Required
Avocado - 1 ( Sliced as shown in the picture )
Carrot - 1 Medium ( Sliced as shown in the picture )
Cucumber - 1/2 Medium ( Sliced as shown in the picture )
Dried and Roasted Seaweed Sheets ( Nori ) - As Required.
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Sugar - 1.5 tsp
Rice Vinegar - 3 tbsp

Preparation 

Cook the Sushi Rice first. Add 2 cups of water for 1.5 cups of Rice. In a small cup, add 3 tbsp of Rice Vinegar, 1.5 tsp of Sugar and 3/4 tsp of salt. Stir the mixture till the sugar and salt dissolve in rice vinegar. Gently pour the rice vinegar mix into the cooked rice and mix thoroughly. Rice texture and taste mainly determines the taste of the Sushi. 

Wash and the veggies and cut them as shown in the picture. Roast the Sesame seeds to golden brown. 

As we don't have the Sushi Mat right now, on the wooden cutting board, place the thick big Ziplog Bag. First place the Roasted Seaweed Sheet.

Spread the Sushi Rice now on top of the Seaweed Sheet uniformly. A thin layer of rice would be more than enough to make a Sushi. 

Place the cut veggies on one corner of the rice spread as shown in the picture. We placed 2 carrot sticks, 2 cucumber sticks, 3 slices of avocado. Don't stuff more than this as it would be difficult to roll the Sushi. 

Start rolling the Sushi from the veggie side towards the other side carefully. After you roll one round, gently press the roll and continue rolling. This will enable the Sushi to get into shape correctly and firmly.

After you roll completely, cut the Sushi rounds and arrange them on a serving plate in a way you desire. Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on all the Sushi and gently pour few teaspoons of Soya Sauce on top of the sushis and serve them with pickled ginger slices and a bit of wasabi sauce. Enjoy the Sushi platter with joy.

Apple Jam / Sweet Apple Jam

Since few weeks, bowls and bowls of fresh juicy red delicious apples showered by our neighbour were decorating our counter top beautifully. We have been eating those apples almost daily. But I really wish to make something out of those sweet apples like spicy thokku or Sweet Jam. I tried both and presenting you friends both the recipes.

Natural sweetness of the red delicious apples was quite enough for this jam. I added 2 cups of Sugar for almost 7 cups of crushed apple. Though the process got over after an hour, its much much simpler and does not need any high end efforts except grinding. Friends, i just grounded the apple pieces in my blender without any water than grating them. But its choice to make the jam with grated apples. Also, i did not peel the apple skin at all as it contains many nutrients.

Sweet Apple Jam 

Ingredients

Red Apples -- Around 10 Medium which could yield 7 cups of grated apples or crushed apples.
Sugar - 2 Cups
Lemon Juice - 1/4 cup
Nutmeg Powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp ( Optional , I did not add )

Method 

• Wash all the apples thoroughly and cut them into medium squares. Carefully take out the middle part which contains the apple seeds.
• In the grinder, grind them coarsely or to a fine paste ( as you wish ) and keep it ready.
• In a thick bottomed vessel / pan, add all the ingredients and mix them well. Cook the jam on medium heat for about an hour.
• Stir the cooking jam inside the vessel at intervals. When it comes to a thick jam consistency, switch off the flame.
• Allow the jam to cool completely. Once its cooled, store the jam in an air tight container.
• Enjoy the apple jam with fresh baked sandwich breads.

Happy New Year 2012

Wishing you all my blogger friends a very Happy and prosperous New year. May God gives you and your family good health, peace, tons of happiness and joy. You will find success in all your trysts like water flowing through the rocks of tribulation.

Happy Diwali



Omapodi, Paramannam ( Sweet Pongal ), Madras Mixture, Rasamalai, Kova kajjikaya, Badam Halwa, Andhra Puliodara

Wishing you all a very Happy, Prosperous and colourful Diwali..We had a colourful blast in our Indian temple, utah with professional fireworks display, fantastic Indian music and yummy Indian Thali too...
A very special diwali in the mid of a chilling weather outside.

Hope you all would have enjoyed very well too...Soon, I will be posting my Diwali recipes in my blog...

Happy Navarathri to you all

Navarathri, a very colourful festival is getting celebrated in a very traditional way this year too...My kids even tried building their own park in this year Golu. My daughter is the proud builder of the big Park and my small son beautifully constructed his own cute Dianosar Park next to the Big Park...Every year, our Golu is slowly increasing in all dimensions, hopefully in another 5 year span, we will be able to build a classic and grand Golu with all traditional dolls.

Wish you all dear friends and bloggers a very Happy Navarathri.......

Happy Ganesha Chaturthi



Handmade Ganesh ( Sandal and turmeric powder ) made by my husband sitting at the center!!

Wish you all a very Happy Ganesha Chaturthi....Ganesha is my most favourite god and I always pray to him for something special and somehow he shows me the right path all the time.  Whenever I start with a new work or visit a new place or new home,  a small ganesha idol or atleast a small ganesha photo would hit me all the time which i consider very lucky...Like that , my ganesha collection at home has been growing.....Let us all pray to Lord ganesha for peace throughout the world.

Spring Flowers LAST WEEK

Last week, our garden was filled with beautiful spring flowers and could enjoy the fragrance of lilac...Hope the sun comes soon and protect our garden....

Spring in Utah

Utah weather is very unusual this year, still cold like winter with heavy rain in the middle. It went upto 75 last week but this whole week has been cloudy, rain and no signs of sun at all.!!!! Hope it gets better from Saturday.

Iniya Puthandu Nal Vaazhthukkal - Happy Tamil New Years Day

Anaivarukkum En Iniya Puthaandu Nal Vaazhthukkal.

Ugadi Bhojanam - 2011

Good Bhojanam always fills your stomach and melts your heart. We too had an awesome, yummy bhojanam at our house on Ugadi Day. I will post the recipes of the Ugadi dishes which i made in my next posts.

Menu in Order : Methi Tomato Pappu, Spicy Tomato Charu, Vankaya Masala, Aratikaya Aavalupettina Koora, Puliodara with Aavalu Flavour, Maamidikai Cobbari Pachi Pachidi, Spicy Tomato Pachidi, Bobbatu, Garelu ( Vada), Paramannam, Ugadi Pachidi.

Ugadi Shubakankshalu

Wish you all bloggers a very Happy Ugadi.